Chapter 82 Lopetegui's Request

[Ah, wouldn't it be better to shoot the ball yourself? ]

[The guy above is obviously ignorant. He definitely can’t play the ball by himself.]

[What we lost was a double goal, what we gained was a future]

[Yes, Xiao Jiang made one pass and one shot. This game’s performance should be the best ever.]

[Why do I feel that Jiang Yuan's performance on the court is getting better and better? This speed of improvement is too outrageous]

[You won't move. I heard that Jiang Yuan trains the hardest in Porto. He doesn't even go out to play on weekends. Can you believe this? ]

[Hahaha, it's really good that one person can play so well in two teams]

[Jiang Yuan is no different from a random killer in the U19 team. Will he win the UEFA Youth League if he continues like this? A European champion at the age of 16, even though it is a youth league, it is still pretty impressive.]

[Trivia: Jiang Yuan’s birthday is April 4nd. He will be 2 years old after the finals~]

[Haha, it’s still hard to win the championship. This year’s Chelsea U19 team is ridiculously strong]

……

"Jiang, I didn't expect that you were the one who gave me the chance to score, haha!"

In the locker room, Jiang Yuan and Quaresma sat side by side.

"no no no"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "I definitely can't score this goal if you give it to me. I don't have the experience like you, Ricardo."

"Hahaha! You kid, Jiang, thank you so much anyway!"

"You're making great progress!"

Quaresma put his arm around Jiang Yuan's shoulders. Today's goal against Sporting CP was very important to him because the Portuguese star had not scored in four consecutive games before that.

It can be said that Jiang Yuan's header passed the ball to pull Quaresma out of the fans' public opinion.

But then again, Jiang Yuan also felt that his progress was a bit too fast. After all, he only needed 6 hours of sleep a day, and he could use the remaining 18 hours for training without getting injured.

Because as long as he feels tired, Jiang Yuan will be rewarded with system cell regeneration, and after refreshing his state, he can practice hard for several hours.

The most crucial thing is not the cell regeneration, but the "slight enhancement of physical fitness" and "slight enhancement of ball sense" given by the system. Although it is a small enhancement, Jiang Yuan can actually clearly feel that he is getting stronger.

If I compare myself now with myself a month ago, the gap is not small; if I compare myself now with myself when I first came to Porto U1, the gap is even more outrageous.

Amid the noisy cheers in the locker room, Lopetegui walked in. His eyes lingered on Jiang Yuan for a while, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Then he said: "Jiang, Casemiro, you two go to the interview"

"!"

Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment.

"Mr. Hullen, are you talking about me?"

Before Lopetegui could say anything, Quaresma patted Jiang Yuan on the shoulder and encouraged him: "One pass and one shot, if you don't accept the interview, who deserves to be interviewed? Go!"

As he said that, Casemiro pulled Jiang Yuan and ran towards the player tunnel.

"By the way, Jiang, have you ever been interviewed?"

Casemiro suddenly asked.

Jiang Yuan nodded, which surprised Casemiro: "I remember you have never been interviewed..."

"It's time for the U19s to play in the UEFA Youth League"

Jiang Yuan said embarrassedly that compared with the Portuguese Super League, the European Youth League can only be regarded as a younger brother among younger brothers.

Seeing Jiang Yuan's embarrassed expression, Casemiro quickly comforted him: "It's okay, Jiang. Everyone has worked their way up from the echelons. I was interviewed when I was in the U20 team, but I don't remember it clearly now. I only know that there were only three of us on the field at that time, including the reporter and the photographer. There were no spectators, haha."

Casemiro's words were somewhat self-deprecating, but what he said was the truth. Most football stars have similar experiences before they become famous, playing from an empty stadium to a packed stadium step by step.

This is also what Jiang Yuan is experiencing now. As a senior, Casemiro is quite touched by Jiang Yuan's current situation.

"It's okay, Jiang. If you get harassed by a reporter, I'll answer your questions for you!"

Casemiro patted his chest and assured that he had been interviewed in the Portuguese Super League no less than five times and was considered quite experienced. It would not be a problem for him to help Jiang Yuan as long as the reporter did not act too outrageously.

"Thank you, Carlos!"

……

Soon, Casemiro and Jiang Yuanren walked out of the player tunnel and onto the field. Cheers came from the stands, calling out to both Casemiro and Jiang Yuanren, but it was obvious that Casemiro's cheers were louder.

The 3:0 victory made the fans at the Dragon Stadium very excited. Most of them did not leave after the final whistle. Instead, the fans of the visiting team had gloomy faces, and many of them left when the score was 2:0.

"Hello, Jiang."

Jiang Yuan was handed the microphone first, and the interview started with him. If the reporter had no plan, then Jiang Yuan would definitely not be able to do it.

"Hello, I think I'm a pretty good kicker. Next question."

"...?"

The male reporter was confused, as his first question was indeed to ask Jiang Yuan what he thought of his performance in the game.

But what do you mean by answering quickly?
Jiang Yuan licked his lips and looked at the camera. His expression seemed to say: Come on, ask anything!
Seeing Jiang Yuan's confidence, Casemiro was also a little surprised.

I've heard of physical talent and ball sense talent, but does it turn out that interviewing also requires talent?
"Well, Jiang, it seems that you really recognize your performance in this game. After you and Quaresma came on as substitutes in the second half, the team's offense in the frontcourt obviously became more fluid. Do you think you might be able to take the starting position for the team?"

My goodness! Casemiro on the side broke into a sweat when he heard this question. This was going to push Jiang Yuan into the fire pit.

If Jiang Yuan admitted it, it would undoubtedly be questioning Brahimi and Captain Martinez, but if Jiang Yuan did not admit it...

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yuan was not nervous at all when facing this question, and slowly said: "The starting lineup has its reasons, and the substitutes have their reasons. The reason why the offense was smooth in the second half was just because I am better at dribbling the ball. It does not mean that I am better than the starting players. The starting lineup and substitutes are arranged by the coach, and I am only responsible for executing the tactics."

"But in my opinion, isn't the most important thing for a winger to break through with the ball?" the male reporter continued to ask.

"Not really"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and continued, "Assisting in wing defense, receiving, crossing, attracting defense... these are all jobs that wingers need to do. I admit that I have many shortcomings in this regard, but I believe that I will improve these shortcomings one by one during the training process."

"But I don't think you're not doing a good enough job on these tasks..."

The male reporter continued to ask, but Jiang Yuan's next words stunned everyone present.

"You think it's useless and need to give me your opinion as the coach of the team, man, you can't say that your opinion is right, right?"

"but……"

"No buts, do you know anything about football?"

Yeah, do you know ball?
These four words really hit the reporter's throat, and he was speechless for a long time.

"Jiang, I have been watching football for at least 10 years. Although I am not as good as you professional players, I still know a little about football. For example, in this game, I think your performance was good, but not as good as Montero of Sporting CP. He played a bigger role in the offense than you."

"Montero?"

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan just shrugged and then said, "I have 1 goal and 1 assist, how many goals and assists did he have?"

"..."

The reporter found that he couldn't get anything out of Jiang Yuan, so he passed the microphone to Casemiro next to him.

"Carlos, you made a crucial tackle at the beginning of the second half. What do you think of that?"

"Well... obviously, I'm a defensive midfielder and it's my job to intercept offensive players. I don't think it's anything special. That's my role on the field."

Compared to Jiang Yuan, Casemiro's answer was much more normal. The reporter couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If every player interviewed was like Jiang Yuan, he could quit his job.

Casemiro's expression was calm, but the reporter's next question made him lose his composure: "Do you think the team's young player Ruben will compete with you for the starting position?"

The Ruben the reporter was talking about is naturally Porto's Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves. Neves, like Casemiro, has had very good performances this season. The reporter's question was very sharp, and Casemiro was unable to answer it for a while.

At this time, Jiang Yuan winked at Casemiro. Casemiro frowned at first, then understood and handed the microphone to Jiang Yuan.

"I think your question is very pure. Ruben and Carlos are not the same type of midfielder. Ruben is better at set-piece offense, while Carlos is better at defense. So, I've said it before, do you understand football?"

Jiang Yuan spread his hands and then returned the microphone to the reporter.

Casemiro's mouth twitched. I agreed to help you, why are you helping me now?
By the way, isn’t your talent for giving interviews a little too incredible?

……

2月28号葡青联A1南，波尔图U19VS里奥阿维U19，江远双响。

3月7号葡青联A1南，本菲卡U19VS波尔图U19，江远两球一助。

On March 3, in the Champions League quarter-finals, Porto beat Basel 11-4 at home, but Jiang Yuan was not included in the team's roster.
3月14葡青A1南，波尔图U19VS国民队U19，江远帽子戏法。

At this point, Jiang Yuan's performance has completely conquered Porto U19's head coach Hermione, and he has also gained the attention of Porto fans.

It is March 3th. Today, none of the Porto teams have any game tasks and are following the coach's training arrangements on various stadiums.

Jiang Yuan trains with the first-team. It has been almost two months since he joined the first-team. Jiang Yuan has become familiar with the players of the first-team. Among them, he has the best relationship with Casemiro, Quaresma and Neves.

There is no need to say much about Casemiro. Jiang Yuan already knew this Brazilian midfielder when he was still playing for the U17 team.

Quaresma, the development of his friendship with Jiang Yuan is inevitable. Ever since the header against Sporting CP, Quaresma always takes care of Jiang Yuan during training.

As for Neves, the reason why Jiang Yuan is very familiar with Neves is ultimately because of Lopetegui. Both he and Neves have the ability to shoot directly from free kicks, so Lopetegui often gives them special free kick training. In the end, Jiang Yuan and Neves have spent the longest time together.

"Jiang, come with me!"

During the speed training, Jiang Yuan, who was the first to complete 20 5-meter shuttle runs, was called away by Lopetegui.

Jiang Yuan did not dare to neglect and trotted over: "Mr. Hu Lun, is there anything you want to tell me?"

Lopetegui was silent for a while, then said: "I want to discuss the U19 issue with you. I don't think you need to play in the Portuguese youth league anymore. The Portuguese youth league is not of much help to you now."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan nodded, looking thoughtful.

Lopetegui was right. Jiang Yuan was averaging 2 goals per game in the Portuguese Youth League. This match was no longer difficult for him. The task of completing a certain number of matches within 2 months that was triggered by the system was about to be completed. Jiang Yuan really did not need to continue participating in the Portuguese Youth League.

In response, Jiang Yuan answered very straightforwardly: "Mr. Hu Lun, then I will not play in the U19 game."

"Hmm? Are you sure you are Jiang?"

Lopetegui's face was full of disbelief. With Jiang Yuan's personality, wouldn't it be better if he played more games?
Lopetegui shook his head. It seems that Jiang Yuan will strive for more playing time in the first team next time!

"By the way, Jiang, I don't mean to ask you to quit the U19 directly. You just need to quit the Portuguese Youth League. You still have to participate in the European Youth League."

Lopetegui said slowly that it was Hemiel's idea to let Jiang Yuan continue to play in the UEFA Youth League. After Lopetegui suggested that Jiang Yuan withdraw from the U19, Hemiel said that he at least required Jiang Yuan to participate in all of Porto U19's games in the UEFA Youth League.

Lopetegui did not refuse. On the one hand, the club needed Jiang Yuan to make a name for himself in international competitions and increase his value; on the other hand, Lopetegui also hoped that this kind of international competition could better train this young Chinese player.

Therefore, keeping Jiang Yuan in the UEFA to play games is not a bad option.

"I have no objection. The European Youth League is indeed much stronger than the Portuguese U19. I can also play against youth teams from various countries."

Jiang Yuan responded that Porto U19's UEFA Youth League competition had already entered the quarter-finals, and there would not be too many games left, so it would not matter if Jiang Yuan finished playing.

It doesn’t matter what the ranking is, just go wherever you can!
However, Jiang Yuan didn't care, but Lopetegui didn't think so. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Jiang Yuan's shoulder: "Jiang, I have a task for you. This task will be of great benefit to you. You can get a contract with a higher salary."

"Mr. Hu Lun, you don't have to be so serious, just tell me directly!"

Jiang Yuan was startled by Lopetegui's action and took two steps back.

"Jiang, I need you to win the European Youth League!"

……

(End of this chapter)